Two-part storage container

ABSTRACT

A two-part container having upper and lower parts, each part being usable to house a product suitable for use with the product housed in the other part but which is stored separately. Each part has a top portion with a sealable aperture which is opened to access the product. The parts of the container are releasably secured together, the top portions overlying one another to protect the apertures from accidental puncturing. For example, the two-part container may be used for a soap powder or washing material stored in one part and a fabric softener or conditioner stored in the other part; a yogurt, fromage frais or soft ice-cream stored in one part and nuts, fruit or a biscuit crumb stored in the other part; and a cereal, cereal clusters or muesli stored in one part and milk in the other part.

The present invention relates to a two-part storage container and moreparticularly to a two-part storage container which is used to storematerials that are normally used together but which must be storedseparately.

Many two-part containers are used to store materials which are usedtogether but must be stored apart, particularly so where one of thematerials to be stored would be destroyed, lose its texture, form anunsuitable solution, become sour or make one or both of the productsstale. Two-part containers are generally substantially rectangular inshape and are of limited depth. The containers are covered by a foilwhich may be peeled back by the user. Normally one half or one corner ofthe rectangle is provided for one of the materials to be stored.

The above arrangements provide certain disadvantages. Firstly, theprotective foil which covers the materials is easily punctured or forcedinwardly, for example by pressure downwardly on the container tops dueto improper stacking procedures. Any puncturing of the foil makes thearticle unsuitable for sale. Secondly, when the materials are to be usedit is often desirable that one is poured into the other, this is notnormally effected easily even where a scoreline is provided between onepart of the container and the other. Additionally, due to theconfiguration of the rectangular container or the triangular part of acontainer, where a corner is cut from the rectangular container, therecan be a high degree of wastage. Finally, the configuration or the foilwrapper of the known two-part containers do not allow for the storage ofa spoon where the articles contained within the container are edibleproducts. For convenience foods provided in such containers, a spoonmust be supplied separately.

In one know solution described in WO 96/15950, a single use containerhaving two parts is provided, each part hermetically sealing a producttherein, the container including a wall separating the two parts. Thewall includes an orifice which has a seal. The seal is broken to allowthe product from one part to flow into the other part under gravity. Aspoon is stored in one of the parts together with the product therein.

The above solution also presents certain disadvantages. Firstly, whenthe seal is broken the flow of material from one part to the other iscontrolled only by gravity. A user cannot decide to use a differentratio of one product to the other by controlling the flow. Secondly,this arrangement does not perform well with viscous or particulateproducts which would not flow freely through the orifice. In such acase, a relatively large percentage of one product would not be readilyavailable for use by a consumer. Thirdly, the two parts of the containershare a wall and are not separable. Therefore, a consumer has no accessto the orifice to reseal the orifice. No consideration is given to theinterruption of the use or consumption of the products or the subsequentre-use or continued consumption thereof. Finally, as the spoon is storedin one part together with the product, a user must open that part toextract the spoon before the products are mixed. As the product ispresented as a convenience package, a consumer may not have opportunityto clean their hands before attempting to retrieve the spoon from withinthe product.

German Patent Publication No. 86 03 8904 (Meierei-Zentrale) discloses acombination breaker comprising two separate beaker halves united bymeans of a flap or loop-type connector. The beaker halves may be sealedshut with two separate cover foils.

German Patent Publication No. DE 33 14 097 (Ferrero) discloses a packagecomprising a pair of cup-shaped disposable containers each having acircumferential planar flange and a thin closure disc sealed to theflange. One of the containers is turned upside down and superimposed onthe other container and the two are firmly held together by a pair ofrings of cardboard or the like, secured by a staple and clamping theflanges therebetween. The containers may jointly reproduce a fruit, e.g.orange or lemon. The liquid composition may be frozen by the consumer inhis domestic freezer to form ice-cream or sorbet.

German Patent Publication No. DE 20 29 648A (Hamm) discloses a packagefor snack articles such as peanuts, which can comprise two dishes, eachhaving an opening which is closeable by a tear-off membrane, the dishesbeing securable on either side of a carrier.

It is an object of the present invention to seek to alleviate the abovedisadvantages and to provide an improved two-part container.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a two-part container, inwhich each part includes a sealable aperture to access the contents, thetwo parts of the container being releasably securable together, one partprotecting the aperture of the other part from accidental opening, eachpart being usable to house contents separate from the contents of theother part, characterized in that one part comprises a substantiallyopen container having a relatively large aperture sealable by a layer offoil and the other part comprises a substantially closed containerhaving a relatively small aperture which is closable by a foil strip.

In one arrangement, the two parts are securable together to seal thecontents of the open container when the two top portions overlie oneanother.

This arrangement protects a foil covered aperture from beingaccidentally punctured when the two parts of the containers are securedto and overlying one another for storage or transportation.

In one particular arrangement, the first one part is charged with aparticulate or solid material and the other part is charged with aliquid, the liquid being pourable into the particulate or solid materialfor use.

In another arrangement, one part is charged with a liquid, gel or creamymaterial and the other part is charged with a particulate material, theparticulate material being added to the liquid, gel or creamy materialprior to use.

Conveniently, the sealable apertures are positioned facing one anotherso that the container parts are securable together.

Preferably, the container or part thereof is provided with a housing toretain an implement such as a fork, spoon, measuring scoop, applicatoror the like.

Advantageously, one part is profiled for use as a bowl.

Preferably the aperture is profiled to ensure that flow of the contentstherefrom is regulated so that spillage is avoided and so that only therequired amount of the contents is used.

Ideally, the aperture is resealable so that any contents remaining inthe container may be used subsequently.

Preferably, the two parts are secured together by a band wrapped aroundthe container when the two apertures are positioned facing one another.

Advantageously, the band secures an implement to the container, the bandhygienically encompassing the implement.

Conveniently, the band comprises a plastics material which isshrink-wrapped around the container.

Preferably, the or each part is nestable with a corresponding part sothat, when empty, the or each part is nested with corresponding partsfor efficient storage and/or transportation.

The two-part container may be used for any products which are usedtogether but which must be stored separately. For example, a soap powderor washing material may be stored in a base part and a fabric softeneror conditioner may be stored in the corresponding overlying part; ayogurt, fromage frais or soft ice-cream may be stored in the base partand nuts, fruit or a biscuit crumb may be stored in the overlying part;and a cereal, cereal clusters or muesli may be stored in the base partand milk may be stored in the overlying part.

The present invention will now be described more particularly withreference to the accompanying drawings, which show by way of exampleonly one embodiment of the two-part container according to theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the two-port container in a storage ortransport mode;

FIGS. 2a to 2 c are a side elevation, top plan view and a sectional sideelevation taken along the lines A—A of FIG. 2a of the lower part of thecontainer, respectively;

FIGS. 3a to 3 c are a side elevation, a top plan view and a sectionalside elevation taken along the lines A—A of FIG. 3a of the upper part ofthe container, respectively; and

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the upper part of the container.

Referring to the drawings, the two-part container comprises a lowercontainer 10 and a upper container 20, each container 10,20 having abase 11,21 and a top surface 12,22 which surfaces are placed adjacentone another by inverting the upper container 20 to lie over the lowercontainer 10 to be held together by a shrink wrap band 30 for storageand transport.

The lower container 10 is shown in detail in FIGS. 2a to 2 c and has asubstantially bowl-shaped profile which includes a steadying rim 14 atits base 11. The bowl includes a flared rim 16 which defines an accessaperture 18 over which a foil is attached to keep the contents fresh andto form the top surface 12.

The upper container 20 is of relatively smaller capacity than that ofthe first container 10. The upper container 20 has a substantiallybowl-shaped profile including a steadying rim 24 at its base 21 and aflared rim 26 defining the top surface 22. Access apertures 28 which aresealed using a foil strip F, as shown in FIG. 4, are provided on the topsurface 22. The apertures 28 are profiled to allow flow to be easilycontrolled. The base 21 of the upper container includes a recess 29 inwhich a scooping implement such as a spoon S is retained. For storageand transport, the spoon is protected from dust and dirt by the shrinkwrap band 30.

The shrink wrap band 30 optionally surrounds the two-part container. Inone arrangement (not shown) the lower container 10 is not provided witha sealing foil and the contents are kept fresh by the sealing action ofthe overlying upper container 20 and the enclosing shrink wrap 30.

All of the components of the two-part container, except the foils, arecomprised of a thermoformable polystyrene or polyethylene material oroptionally a thermoformable plastics material mix. The upper and lowercontainers are formed using standard moulding techniques.

Generally, the upper and lower containers 10,20 are manufactured at asite remote from the filling, sealing and packing site(s) of theproducts to be used therein. To facilitate the transportation and orstorage of empty containers, the walls of the containers are angled α10,α20 so they may be nested with further identical containers (not shown).

The two-part container of the present invention is suitable forconveniently providing a breakfast cereal. The cereal is stored in thebowl shaped lower container 10 and is foil-sealed therein to retainfreshness and crispness of the cereal and a treated milk product isstored in the upper container 20. To prolong the shelf life of thebreakfast cereal product, the milk component is treated to reduce thebutter-fat content and treated using various other processes to prolongthe shelf life of the milk without altering its taste characteristics.

Alternative uses of the two-part container include; soap powder andfabric conditioner, yoghurt and nuts; ice-cream and fruit coulis; andcosmetic moisturiser and foundation make-up (with make-up applicatorreplacing the scooping implement). Where the container is adapted to beused in a microwave oven or can tolerate boiling water, one or bothcontainers may hold a cookable foodstuff and the other may hold a sauceor gravy.

The spoon S illustrated in FIGS. 3a and 3 c is formed with a foldedshank so that the spoon S is held within the recess 29 of the uppercontainer 20. The spoon 3 can include graduations for the measuredmixing of the—contents of one container with the other or for measureddispensing of one or both of the products.

In a preferred arrangement the lower container 10 is 55 mm high and hasan outer dimension φ1 of 105 mm including the rim 16 or an outerdiameter φ2 of 97 mm excluding the rim 16. The base 11 includes thesteadying rim 14 which has an outer diameter φ3 of 60 mm and an innerdiameter φ4 of of 30 mm. The flared rim 16 at the top surface 12 of thecontainer is 1 mm thick and the base 11 is 3 mm high. The nesting angleα10 of the lower container 10 is 5°.

The upper container 20 is 34 mm high and has an identical outer diameterφ5 including the rim 26 as that of the lower container 10 of 105 mm, theouter diameter φ6 excluding the rim 26 is 95 mm. The thickness of therim 26 is 1 mm and the nesting angle α20 of this container is 7°.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to thespecific details described herein, which are given by way of exampleonly, and that various modifications and alterations are possible withinthe scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A two-part container, in which each part includesa sealable aperture to access the contents, the two parts of thecontainer being releasably securable together, one part protecting theaperture of the other part from accidental opening, each part beingusable to house contents separate from the contents of the other part,wherein: one part comprises a substantially open container having arelatively large aperture sealable by a layer of foil; the other partcomprises a substantially closed container having a relatively smallaperture which is closable by a foil strip; and the two parts aresecured together by a band wrapped around the container when the twoaperture are positioned facing one another.
 2. A two-part container asclaimed in claim 1, in which the band secures an implement to thecontainer, the band hygienically encompassing the implement.
 3. Atwo-part container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the implement is atleast one of a fork, spoon, measuring scoop, or applicator.
 4. Atwo-part container as claim in claim 1, in which the band comprises aplastic material.
 5. A two-part container as claimed in claim 4 in whichthe plastic material is shrink-wrapped around the container.
 6. Atwo-part container as claimed in claim 1, in which one part is profiledfor use as a bowl.
 7. A two-part container as claimed in claim 1,wherein an aperture of one part is profiled to ensure that flow of thecontents therefrom is regulated so that spillage is avoided ad so thatonly the required amount of the contents is used.
 8. A two-partcontainer as claimed in claim 7 in which the sealable aperture of atleast one part is resealable so that any contents remaining in thecontainer may be used subsequently.
 9. A two-part container as claimedin claim 1, in which one part is charged with a particulate or solidmaterial and the other part is charged with a liquid, the liquid beingpourable into the particulate or solid material for use.
 10. A two-partcontainer as claimed in claim 1, in which one part is charged with oneof a liquid, gel or creamy material and the other part is charged with aparticulate material, the particulate material being added to said oneof the liquid, gel or creamy material prior to use.
 11. A two-partcontainer as claimed in claim 1, in which each part is nestable with acorresponding part so that, when empty, each part is nested withcorresponding parts for efficient storage and/or transportation.
 12. Atwo-part container as claimed in claim 1, in which at least a portion ofthe container is adapted to provide a housing to retain an implement.